This is the single-news section of the
marathonrally.com special of the Optic 2000 Tunisia Rally 2007, 1st round of the FIM Worldcup for Cross Country Rallys. To see all news please use the link under the
article or navigate with the left main-navigation.

Optic Tunisia: Transmission problems slow the Trophy Truck down.

Fourth stage of this Optic 2000 Tunisian Rally, 262 km long, did not treat the French Chevrolet Trophy Truck nicely. Just like it did on the last Dakar, the transmission has once again slowed the truck, but Eric Vogouroux and Alexandre Winocq still managed to finish this stage. The race isn´t yet finished for the Trophy Truck, now in 18th place, but the chance of a podium are for the moment out of reach.

"We started the stage really well, we were even catching up on the Nissan Dessoude Proto of Christian Lavieille, when we heard a loud noise from under the floor. We knew straight away", tells Vogouroux. Luckily since the Dakar, a whole driveshaft is on board the truck. Replacement was quite quick, about 35-40 minutes, not too painful.

Sadly, on the second loop at about six kilometres from the finish, the universal joints broke again. This time it took all the ingenuity of Alexandre Winocq, a second to none mechanic, to repair the transmission with the "bits and pieces" kit.

A the end, more than three annoying hours were lost. "It´s very painful because we´re now missing out on a good result. But we know where the problem lies. The grease in the universal joints must suffer from the heat from the gearbox, especially dangerous here in the dunes. With the makers of the Trophy Truck, we are now going to work to remedy this. I won´t be beat by this setback", finishes Eric Vogouroux.